


When the Earth Holds Still

by Gypsywriter135



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angst, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2013-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-29 22:06:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/692005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gypsywriter135/pseuds/Gypsywriter135
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack's mischief gets him in trouble. Bunny offers his condolences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Earth Holds Still

**Author's Note:**

> Written in, like, an hour. Not beta'd or proofread. Read at your own risk.

Bunny found him sitting at the top of Mount Everest, sitting on an outcropping with his legs drawn to his chest and his hood up, staff lying on the ground beside him in immediate reach.

The Easter Bunny knew the boy knew he was there, yet Jack made no indication of his presence.

“Been looking everywhere for ya’, mate,” he said softly, coming to rest next to Jack.

Jack shrugged, face still shielded from Bunny’s view.

“North was right worried, he was,” Bunny continued. “Tooth was flying all over the place in a tizzy, and Sandy’s still combing through the continents looking for ya’.”

“Well, they can obviously stop then,” Jack said quietly. The arms wrapped around his legs gripped tighter. “You found me.”

Bunny sat back on his hind legs. “You sure don’t make it easy, do you.”

Jack gave another shrug. “What’s it matter?” he muttered.

“We were worried something bad happened to ya’,” Bunny told him, raising an eyebrow. “You flew outta there before we could make sure that ya’ were alright.”

“Well, I’m fine,” the teen murmured. A cold gust of wind blew snow around the two, and Bunny resisted the urge to shiver.

“Obviously not,” the rabbit told him.

Jack’s shoulders and back tensed.

“Look, why don’t you just come back to the Pole and we’ll all sit down and-”

“-And kick me out of the Guardians?”

Bunny stilled, nose twitching in surprise. He looked wide-eyed at the boy next to him. “Why’d you go and say something like that?”

“Because you’re going to kick me out.” Jack’s voice was incredibly small, and it was only Bunny’s super sensitive hearing that allowed him to even hear the response among all the howling wind and blowing snow around him. He blinked.

“We’re not gonna kick you out, ya’ gumby!” Bunny exclaimed. “Where’d you get that idea?”

A huge gust of wind cut off Jack’s reply.

“What?”

“It was only a matter of time,” Jack mumbled. He rested his chin on top of his bent knees.

“Until what?” Bunny was honestly baffled.

“You get sick of me and kick me out.”

“We’re not kickin’ ya’ out, mate.”

“You should. I just mess everything up.”

“Hey, now!” Bunny exclaimed. He put a paw on Jack’s shoulder and turned the boy so that they were facing one another. “Just what brought this on?”

Jack refused to look at him, averting his gaze. Bunny didn’t miss the wetness in his eyes.

“Hey, hey,” the rabbit said softly, using his other paw to gently turn Jack’s face back towards his own to look him in the eyes. “What’s a’matter?”

The Winter Spirit shrugged, trying to look anywhere but at Bunny.

“Come on, Jack. You can’t honestly believe that just because there was a rough patch, we’re going to ‘kick you out’.”

“But I screwed everything up,” Jack muttered. “And North was so mad and Sandy was yelling and Tooth looked so angry and you-”

“We weren’t angry, Jack,” Bunny told him.

Jack gave him a disbelieving look.

“Okay, maybe we were a _little_ mad at the time,” Bunny admitted. “But we were more concerned and worried about you than anything else. You could have been seriously hurt, Jack.”

“But why would it matter if I were injured or not?” Jack asked. “It’s not like it’ll actually effect me.”

“Ya’ gave us a good fright, mate,” Bunny admitted.

Jack’s eyes widened in surprise, snapping up to meet the rabbit’s green ones.

“We were afraid that something had happened to ya’,” Bunny explained. “Sure, we were angry that you caused a ruckus and things got broken, but we’re more concerned about whether or not _you_ were broken.”

“But… but why?” Jack asked, and Bunny was surprised to see obvious confusion on his face.

“Because that’s what you do in a family,” he said.

Jack jerked under Bunny’s grip, sucking a breath. The wind around them let out a howl before it suddenly stopped, Jack’s eyes as big as saucers.

“Family…?” he murmured.

Bunny gave him a small smile and nodded. “That’s right, mate. What’d you think we were?”

Jack shook his head, biting his lower lip, eyes watering a bit more. “But I-”

“You’re a part of this family now, Jack,” Bunny said. “Whether you like it or not. And we look after our family, which means that we look after you. You can whine and complain and throw tantrums, but that’s the facts, Jackie, and they aren’t changing anytime soon.”

The Easter Bunny watched as a plethora of emotions flew over Jack Frost’s face and in his eyes. The boy’s bottom lip began to quiver where it was being abused between his snow-white teeth. He smiled softly and brought the teen closer to him, wrapping his arms around Jack’s slender form.

Jack stilled for a moment, and Bunny knew by his tense posture and stiff back that this was the last thing he was expecting from him of all people. But after a few awkward seconds, Bunny felt the teen raise his arms to return the hug. The boy was just the right height and he fit perfectly against Bunny’s chest, his face pressing into Bunny’s shoulder, arms around his thick neck as he tightly gripped the long hair. But Bunny didn’t mind for the moment, and he minded even less when he felt his fur getting wet where Jack’s face was. He only tightened his grip on the Spirit, curling protectively around him as the winds on the mountain swirled to a calming speed.

“Shh, it’s alright, mate,” Bunny whispered. “Everything’s gonna be alright.”

He lost track of how long they stayed like, but when Bunny felt the light shift in Jack’s stance, he obediently let the teen go. Jack leaned back and, grabbing his staff from where he had abandoned it earlier, stood and stepped a few paces away from Bunny, head turned away, and scrubbed furiously at his face. Bunny waited a few minutes before he said anything.

“Ya’ alright there, Jackie?”

It was a soft question, and Bunny was sure that Jack would blow him off, ignore him, but Jack was full of surprises today and instead turned to face his friend.

“Better…”

It wasn’t the answer Bunny was hoping for, but it was a start. He gave a short nod and stood up to his full height.

“Hey, chin up, mate,” he smiled. “Things’ll work out.”

“Yeah, whatever…” Jack said, giving another shrug, but there was a small twitch of the corner of his lips.

“You ready to get back to the Pole?”

Jack winced, then shook his head furiously. “No, no I think I’ll hang out here for a while...”

Bunny rolled his eyes. “It’ll only get worse the longer you avoid it.”

“But… But North is still really mad…”

“He might be mad now, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still worried about ya’,” Bunny replied. “He can replace what got broken. He can’t replace you.”

“What if he yells?” Jack asked, clutching his staff close to his body, eyes impossibly wide.

“Then you’ll just have to stand there and take it,” Bunny told him.

Jack visibly flinched.

“Come on, Jackie,” Bunny cajoled softly. He tapped his foot on the snowy ground and opened up a tunnel leading to the North Pole. “The sooner ya’ face the music, the sooner ya’ can go back to having fun.”

Jack looked at him, a slight trace of fear on his fear as he took a step backwards, hands tightening on his staff. Bunny’s face softened visibly.

“I won’t let ‘em be too harsh,” he promised quietly.

The boy gulped, looking up at Bunny, who nodded encouragingly. He sighed and then hung his head, stepping forward to the edge of the hole.

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart,” Bunny said, making an “X” over his heart with his paw.

Jack nodded, bit his lip, and then stepped into the tunnel, disappearing below the mountain. Bunny shook his head, a fond look coming over his face as he followed. A single flower bloomed where the tunnel closed up, immediately frozen in time as the cold and ice and wind hit it.

**Author's Note:**

> I really just wanted to write the hug scene. Don't ask me what Jack did; I have no idea.


End file.
